The present invention is directed to a waist band extender for extending the waist bands of lower body garments and, in particular, to a detachable waist band extender which can be easily applied to and removed from the waist band of a lower body garment and easily adjusted to accommodate changes in the waist measurement of the garment wearer.
When the waist measurement of an individual is temporarily greater than normal, such as during the early portion of a woman's pregnancy, immediately after a woman gives birth, or as a result of weight gains and fluctuations, an individual typically purchases larger size shorts, skirts, pants or other lower body garments to accommodate the increase in the individual's waist line. While the purchase of a such temporary wardrobe is a solution to the problem, it is an expensive and impractical solution to the problem.
Prior art efforts, known to the inventor, to alter the waist band of a lower body garment or otherwise accommodate changes in the waist line measurements of an individual, include the following:
U.S. Pat. No. 4,580,298, inventor Tuisl, issued Apr. 8, 1986, discloses a waist band extender with a band, having a button hole and button (FIG. 4) or male and female snap elements (FIG. 6), which bridges the fly opening of the garment to secure the waist band about the wearer. The extent that the garment waist band is lengthened by means of Tuisl's waist band extender is fixed by the spacing between the button hole and button or the snap elements of Tuisl's waist band extender.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,803,740, inventor Dawson, issued Feb. 14, 1989, discloses a waist band extender for a garment which includes a triangular panel, with a button hole and buttons and VELCRO-like fabric strips secured to both the panel and the garment, for bridging the fly opening of a garment to secure the waist band of the garment.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,017,544, inventor Hoffman, issued Feb. 13, 1912, discloses trousers with belt sections sewn thereon having button holes 10 which can be fastened to buttons 13 to put tucks in the waist band of the trousers and reduce the length of the waist band. U.S. Pat. No. 1,431,846, inventor Slavens, issued Oct. 10, 1922, discloses a belt with sections that can be added or removed to change the length of the belt. U.S. Pat. No. 2,625,688, inventor Kaufman, issued Jan. 20, 1953, discloses trousers with an elastic waist band 14 and belt sections 17 and 18 sewn to the elastic waist band.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an inexpensive, detachable waist band extender that can be readily secured to and removed from a variety of lower body garments without having to alter the garments.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an inexpensive, detachable waist band extender which permits the waist band of the lower body garment to be quickly, easily and selectively extended to any one of numerous closely spaced settings whereby the waist band of the garment can be readily adapted to comfortably fit minor as well as major variations and fluctuations in the waist measurement of the wearer.